Sample splitter



Jan. 8, y1963 R. A. CLINE ET AL SAMPLE SPLITTER Filed March 2, 1959' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 #Y mY INVENTORS.' RUBERT. CLINE.

BY EURL D. TUNJE s.

Jan. 8, 1963 R. A. CLINE ET AL SAMPLE SPLITTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1959 INVENTORS.' HUBERT ELINL' BY EURL I7. TUNJES.

Jan.8, 1963 R.A. CLINE ETAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 2, 1959 NVENTOR.

BY EURL D. TDNJL'S.

.ATi-'2:

United States Patent Utilice 3,971,969 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,071,969 SAMPLE SPLITTER Robert A. Cline, Napoleon, and Burl D. Tonjes, Malinta,

Ohio, assignors to The Gilson Screen Company,

Malinta, Ohio, a partnership consisting of R. lHeath Smith and Robert A. Cline Filed Mar. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 796,330 18 Claims. (Cl. 73-421) This invention relates to a device for dividing masses of particles. More particularly, it deals with the separation of a mass or batch of particles into separate parts, each of which is representative of the composition of the original mass, such as for example in the reduction of a sample of granular material, ore, coal, minerals, sand, gravel, aggregate or the like for testing purposes.

Previously,fsuch devices have been somewhat complicated in structure, too limited in capacity, or even unreliable in their ability to extract a true representative sample or portion of the batch of particles to be tested, thus tending to establish a basis for error in ensuing analyses even before such analyses are begun. Thus, there still exists the problem of providing a more reliable and economical device for obtaining a more nearly true representative division of particles from a given batch thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to produce a simple, eflicient, eiective, economic, reliable, durable and accurate sample or batch splitting or dividing device.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a device for separating a relatively large batch of particles into at least two parts, each of which parts are accurate, uniform and completely representative samples of the original to-tal batch.

Another object is to provide such a device with a readily self-contained, adjustable, convertible and/ or interchange able separating element to handle a wide range of sizes of particles of different batches.

Another object is to provide such a device with a simple charge hopper adapted for direct, even and uniform distribution and dumping of a charge or a batch onto the separating elementof such a device so that the separating element will accurately divide the charge or batch so that the separating operation is unaffected by momentary errors of judgment or accidental unevenness of the operator in adding or pouring the charge onto the separating element.

Still another object is to provide such a device with a separating element free from a plurality of parallel narrow vertical sample slicing partitions, because of this hopper for direct even and uniform distribution `and dumping of the charge or batch onto the separating element.

Generally speaking, this invention comprises a hopper portion for uniformly dumping and distributing a mass or batch of particles which may vary in size and/ or cornposition; a V-shaped trough separator, or dividing portion having each of its two sides composed of an equal number of alternate strips or bars and spaces into which troughl said hopper discharges its batch; a partition portion below the vertex of the separator trough for maintaining the aggregate separated thereby into the two parts; and means for supporting said portions, such as a framework. The hopper portion may be of a clamshell type mounted on the top of the framework into which the entire sample to be divided is placed, and then the hopper is quickly opened to discharge its entire contents directly and completely along the center line of the V-shaped trough separator.

The opposite sides of the V-shaped rib-sided trough separator consist of an equal number of alternate strips or bars and spaces or slots, extending upwardly and outwardly from its vertex, the widths of which strips and spaces may be varied depending upon the size of the particles to be separated, the ner the particles the narrower are the strips and Spaces. Different gauge trough separators may be interchanged in their support or framework and/or may be variable themselves, such as comprising a series ofbars pivoted along the lower vertex of the trough, which bars may be arranged alternately or in groups of two, three, four or more on opposite sides of the vertex to form the ribbed sides of the trough. The partition below the vertex of the separator trough may include part of a chute or funnel into which particles may be directed into a bag or other receptacle, and/or may include a side of a tray which may be slidable in and out of the framework.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparentand the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View of one embodiment of a sampling device according to this invention, with parts broken away, showing a framework for supporting a hopper, a pivoted bar trough separator, and receptacles for the separated sample;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the device as shown in FIG. l with parts broken away showing the sample receiving receptacles and the hopper operating mechanism;

` FIG. 3 is a top plan View of FIG. 1 showing the batch hopper in its open position with some of the parts below it being broken away;

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan View taken along the line IV-IV on FIG. l illustrating one form or arrangement of the pivoted bars of the trough separator;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the pivoted bar trough separator of FIGS. l, 2 or 4 showing the procedure for adjusting the widths of the bars and spaces between them that make up the sides of the trough;

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line VI--VI of FIG. 4 showing a different bar arrangement and the mounting means for the pivoted bars and the trough separator in the framework;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 illustrating still another dijerent spacing arrangement of the bars of the trough separator for the separation of abatch containing larger sized particles;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar4 to FIG. 2 showing the batch hopper in the process of directly, uniformly and evenly discharging a batch of material to be separated above and along the central axis or vertex of the trough separator;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of a sampling device according to this invention with parts broken away, showing a modied type of trough-separator and means for removably supporting the same in the framework;

FIG. 1() is a cross-sectional view along the line X-X of FIG. 9 with parts broken away and showing a batch v of material being discharged through the modified form of separator into the two separate receptacles provided therefor;

FIG. ll shows a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the hopper shown in FIG. lor 9, showing a skirt for bridging the gap between the end edges of the hopper when it is open to insure proper connernent and direction of material being discharged therefrom;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the split sample collecting or directing funnel or chute shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 and a part of the means for removably mounting it in the framework;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a replaceable trough separator as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, with sides having wider ribs and spaces than shown in the trough separator in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 14 shows a fragmentary perspective View of a replaceable trough separator as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, showing narrower ribs and spaces than shown in the trough separator of FIG. 9, as well as the means for removably supporting the separator in the framework.

T he Base Frame The device disclosed herein may comprise a pair of main side panels or frame members Ztl, 21 having horizontal sills or connecting members 22, 23 (see FIGS. l-S) or 24, 25, 26, 27 (see FIGS. 9-10') to form a stable structure for the device. Stitfening plates 28 in FIGS. 1-8 or 29 in FIG. 9 may be welded into the members 22, 23 or 24, 25, respectively, to increase the stiffness and twist resistance of the structure. Slide rail members 31 and 32 may be provided within the panels 2th, 21 in order to reinforce and stiifen these parts and also to provide a means for supporting certain other parts, such as the split-sample receptacles, to be described hereinafter. The side panel frame members 20, 21 may be formed on one piece of sheet metal as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and also be provided with flanges 34 having openings 35 therein for attachment to a oor, if desired (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4), or said side panel frame members 20, 21 may be formed of inverted U-shaped angle strips 36 with plates 37 welded or attached thereto as shown in FIGS. 9 and l0.

The Batch Discharge Hopper A longitudinal V-shaped trough hopper 46 may be provided at the top of the device and may be adapted for receiving a charge or batch 41 of `aggregate to be divided or sampled. This hopper l40 may be supported on blocks or plates 42 (see FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 9) welded or otherwise aflixed to the central upper extremities of the side panels 20 and 21. The sides ofthe hopper 40 may comprise a pair of matching clamshell type elements 44 each of which may be provided with substantially triangular shaped end plates 45 at the outer vertices of which may be provided independent supporting pivotal connections 46 and 47 with the blocks 42 associated with the main frame panels 29, 2.1. The clamshell elements 44 are arranged to meet along the central trough vertex axis or match line 4S along the bottom of the hopper so that when the hopper is in closed position (as shown in full lines in FIG. 2) the batch 41 may be leveled by hand or a trawl therein so that it will be carried uniformly at a substantially even level along and equally on both sides of the central axial portion or central vertical plane of the device. A pair of seal plates 49 (see FIG. 11) may be welded or otherwise aixed to one of the end plates 45 at each end of the hopper 4h, thus forming a lapped seal over the meeting edges of these plates 45 to prevent lateral leakage of the batch 41 at the ends of the hopper when the normally abutting edges of the end plates 45 are swung apart or the clamshell sections 44 are opened.

The hopper device 4i) may be provided with a linkage mechanism 50 (see FIG. 2) arranged along one side of the frame and adapted to permit opening and closing of the hopper 40 by a sample manual manipulation of an operating handle 51 associated therewith. Ordinarily the hopper 40 may be kept closed by reason of the weight of the parts of the hopper about their fulcrums or pivots `46 and 47, however, tension spring means 52 or other suitable means may be supplied to augment and insure such closing. Each of the clamshell elements 44 of the hopper 40 may be provided with apertured lugs 53 having link connections 54 with arms 55 welded or otherwise aixed to a pair of horizontal rock shafts 56 and 57 mounted in bearing blocks 58 on the frame panels 20, 21 for rocking motion therein. At one end of the rock shaft 56 and at the outside of the end panel 21, there may be attached an arm 61 having a link connection 62 to the operating handle 51 of the hopper operating mechanism 50. The handle 51 may be welded or otherwise attached to the shaft 57 to provide a direct connection therewith, both shafts 56 and 57 being rocked simultaneously thereby. It may be seen that when the handle 51 is moved to the dash line position 51 the hopper parts will be moved to their respective dash line positions 44 in FIG. 2 thus opening the hopper along its bottom vertex meeting edge 48 and allowing the batch 41 to drop therethrough (see FIGS. 8 and 10) directly onto the trough separator or divider device 70, 71, 72 or 73. The batch 41 of aggregate then falls downwardly through the separator and is divided thereby into a plurality of streams A and B, which streams may be directed by the separator elements and associated parts 'to fall in diverging directions into separate receptacles which may be removably positioned along the slide members 31 and 32 in the main frame structure directly below the separator device, as will be described later.

Thus by iling the hopper 40 with the batch or charge to be divided or split and being sure that the charge is substantially evenly distributed throughout the length and breadth of the hopper 40, the sample will be evenly uniformly and directly dischargedalong the full length of the splitting axis of the separator device 70 when the two equal jaws of the hopper are opened so as to eliminate all human errors, momentary and/ or accidental, in the addition of the sample to the separator device duc to unsteadiness of the operators hand in manually pouring the sample along the splitting axis of the separator device.

The Trough Separators In the embodiment of FIGS. l through 8, the horizontal connecting frame members 22, 23 may provide a convenient support for the batch separating device 70. This separator 70 may comprise end plates 81, 82 having upwardly and outwardly batch deflecting flanges 83 with outwardly extending ears, hanger elements, or lugs 84 (see FIGS. 2, 4 and 5) arranged near the tops thereof to overlie the horizontal connecting frame or sill members 22 and 23, so that the plates 81, 82 are suspended vertically therefrom, and the anges 83 assist in directing the batch 41 inwardly toward the separating device 70. The lower edges of the plates 8'1 and 82 may be formed with downwardly and inwardly extending flanges or aps S5 adapted for directing the falling batch inwardly from the end walls of the batch receivers or receptacles mounted below the separator in the frame. These lower flaps 8S may have notches S6 (see FIG. 2) formed therein at the central vertical axis of the device to straddle or surmount a centrally located cross-tie member 87 positioned between the end plates 81 and 82. The member 87 may be formed of an inverted angle strip with an upwardly pointing apex 88 having downwardly sloping sides 89, which may act to divert the divided portions A and B of the batch 41 as they leave the separator device 70.

The adjustable trough separator 70 embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 8 provides a sampler device of wide exibility and extreme simplicity in adjustment, capable of handling aggregates of varying component sizes, and comprises a plurality of bars 90 having matching and A aligned apertures 91 near one end thereof so that these bars 9G can be arranged side-by-side along a supporting and clamping rod 92 (see FIG. 5). The end wall members 81 and 82 may have apertures 93 therein for the ends of the rod 92 which ends mount sleeves or bushings 94, which sleeves 94 may be welded or otherwise afxed to the wall plates 81, 82, and which permit extension of the rod 92 outside the frame panels 20, 21 through openings 95. The clamp rod 92 may be threaded at one or both of its ends beyond the sleeves 94 to receive wing nuts 96 adapted to engage the bushings to enable clamping and unclamping of the bars 90. Thus, the bars 90 may be readily unclamped, positioned or arranged so that alternate bars in equal groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or more (see FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) may stand in alternate divering directions upwardly from the rod 92, the upper ends leaning outwardly against the side rails 22, 23 (see FIGS. 2 and 5), and then readily reclamped to form a slotted 98 V-shaped trough through which batches of different particle sized aggregates to be separated or sampled may be passed. For example, forty-eight bars 90 are employed in a preferred embodiment, each bar being.

approximately one half inch square and seven to eight inches long so than an equal number of equal width bars and spaces 98 can ibe arranged on each side of the trough 70 producing spaces 98 for dividing aggregate samples.

having particle sizes of 1/2, 1, 11/2, 2, 3", 4" or 6". The modified trough separator units 71, 72, and 73 disclosed in FIGS. 9, 10, 13, 14 are adapted to be interchanged between the end frame members 20, 21 below the hopper 40, and they each may comprise end plates 1011 and 102 connected in spaced apart parallel arrangement by inverted V-shaped tie members 1.03, 104, 105. The upper members 103, 104 may -be welded or otherwise aihxed along the upper margins of the end plates 101, 102 with the lower member 105 being welded or otherwiseattached centrally of the plates 101, 102 but near lthe lower edge thereof. These members are thus arranged in a V formation and adapted to support the alternate adjacent separator bars or strips 111-112, 113-114 and 115-116 with equal spaces between them, in upwardly diverging directions from the member 105 to form corresponding V-shaped dividing trough separators 71, 72 and 73, respectively in FIGS. 9, l0, 13 and 14. These bars or strips 111-112, 113--114, and 11S-116 may be attached to the sides of these members 103, 104 and 1,05 by welding or the like to form integral troughunits 71, 72 and 73. Each end plate 101, 102 of each of these different trough separators may be positioned in the frame on a pair of shouldered studs 121 and 122 which may be mounted in hanger elements such as apertures 123 and 124 in the panel plates 37 (see FIG. 14). Corresponding apertures 125 and horizontal slot 126 may be provided in each of the end plates 101 and 102, and in assembling the separators 71, 72 and 73 in the frame, the slots 126 may be brought into register with a groove 127 on each of the studs 121 while simultaneously aligning the apertures 124 in the plates 37 with the apertures 125 in the end plates 101 and 102. The grooved studs 121 may be permanently attached to the plates 37, such as by a weld 12S, while the shoulder studs 122 may be provided with wing-nut heads 129 which may be attached by rings and chains 131 to the outside of plates 37 so they wont be lost, and may have reduced threaded ends 132 which may be threaded into nuts 133 attached over the apertures 125. Thus the trough separator units 71, 72 and 73 may be inserted within and removed from the frame according to the width of the bars and slots between them to provide Vfor aggregates of dilerent particle sizes.

The Sample Receptacles Below the trough separators and on each side of the vertex center line thereof may be provided two receptacles for receiving, diverting and/or collecting the aggregate divided into two equal and uniform parts by the separator. Since usually only one half of the charged batch, or one sample, is desired or to be resplit, a funnel type receiver 140 in FIGS. 1, 2, 9, l0 and 12 may be positioned by sliding its end edges along the side rails 31 and 32 below and on one side of the central vertex of trough separators. This funnel 140 may comprise downwardly and inwardly converging side walls 141, an inwardly sloping rear wall 142, and a substantially vertical planar front wall 143, to form a gathering means for the portion A of aggregate falling thereinto from one side of the trough separator, and to direct said portion A of aggregate into a bag C or other suitable container which may be provided therefor. A flange or ledge 144 adapted to support the drawstring edge of the bag or sack C may be provided around the lower opening formed by the sides 141, 142 and 143 as shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 12; or instead of such a flange on the front Wall 143, a lock lever 145 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) may be provided with a pivoted clamping iinger 146 mounted for limited swinging motion, cooperating with lug 147 which may be Welded or otherwise lsecured to the front wall 143 to provide a supporting, holding and gathering means for the rim of the bag or sack C. The bag C may be of cotton or duck or other material and may have a drawstring (not shown) for initial snug itting around the flanges 144 and/or with the lug 147. The front wall 143 of the funnel 140 in the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2 may extend beyond the edges of the sloping side walls 141 to provide ears 151 of a single plate that overlap the edges of the end frames 20 and 21 where wing nuts 152 may be provided to engage bolts on the frame members to hold and insure that the funnel 140 is completely under half of the trough separator in -its proper aggregate receiving position with the upper edge of its back wal1 142 below the bar 92 in FIGS. 1 and 2 or member 105 in FIGS. 9 and `10. Instead of the upper marginal edges of the wall member 141 sliding along the rails 31 and 32, separate sliding portions 155 (see FIGS. 9, l0 and 12) may be fastened to the side walls 141 for this purpose, which portions 155 may be limited in their inwardly sliding movement by stops 156 at the center of the rails 31 and 32 (see FIGS. 9 and l0).

On the opposite side of the center line or vertex of the trough separators from the funnel 140, there may be provided a slidably removable pan or open receptacle 160, which may comprise a pair of side walls 161, adjacent end walls 162, and a bottom 163, for the remainder portion B of the aggregate from the other sde of trough separator 70, 71, 72 or 73. The end walls 162 of the receptacle 160 in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be provided with outwardly projecting ange portions 164 adapted to fit onto and slide along the side rails 31 and 32 into and out of aggregate receiving position, with the top edge of its inner wall 161 abutting the stop 156 and/or the top edge of the back wall 142 of the funnel 140 along the center line vertex of the trough under the bar 92 or member 105. In FIGS. 9 and l0, the pan 160 may instead be supported along its bottom edges, which edges may slide on the rails 31 and 32, as the portions 155 of the funnel of FIG. 12, and be limited in their inward movement by the other sides of the stops 156 at the center of the rails under the vertex of the troughs 71, 72 or 73.

If desired, receptacles 160 or funnels 140 and bags C may be employed on both sides of the trough separator; however, the pan receptacle 160 has been found advantageous in removing and redumping its contents back into thehopper 40 and again through the separator for further division of the same sample and collecting all the remainder in the same sack or bag C when the portion desired to be retained is one fourth (1A), one eighth (l) or one sixteenth UAG) of the original aggregate sample. n

Of the different embodiments shown and described above, many of the features may be interchanged without departing from the scope of this invention, such as the frame structures, funnel structures, receptacle trays, etc.

While there are described above the principles of this invention in connection with speciiiec apparatus, it is to -be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A divider for a batch of particles comprising: a V- shaped trough having end plates and being free from Vertical transverse partitions between said end plates, said trough having an equal number of slots alternately along its two opposite sides, means for discharging a batch of the particles uniformly into said trough directly over the vertex center line thereof, and means for maintaining the particles which fall through said slots on opposite sides of the trough separated from each other.

2. A particle dividing apparatus comprising a V-shaped trough consisting of end plates and a pair of converging sides formed of an alternate and equal number of strips and slots along each side thereof whereby each strip on one side is opposite a slot of the same width on the other side of the trough and vice versa, and free from vertical transverse partitions between said end plates.

3. A sample splitter comprising: a framework, a uniformly opening clam-shell type hopper positioned near the top of said framework, a V-shaped trough separator having openings in each side of said trough with the openings in one of said sides intermediate the openings in the other of said sides and the width of said openings in said one side being equal in width to the distance between said openings in said other side of said trough, said trough separator having its vertex located directly below the center line of said hopper in said framework, means below the vertex of said separator trough for maintaining the sample into two parts divided by said trough, and means for changing the width of said openings in said trough sides for samples of different sized particles.

4. In an apparatus for dividing a sample of aggregate particles comprising: a frame, a normally closed hopper supported in said frame for initial loading of said sample whereby after said sample is placed therein it may be levelled before being discharged, a dividing means having a longitudinal aggregate axis and being supported in said frame for splitting said sample into two fractions, and at least one receptacle for receiving a fraction of said divided sample, said hopper being aligned over said dividing means, and comprising: a pair of longitudinal cooperating shell halves pivoted in said frame having mating end and bottom longitudinal edges directly above and parallel to said dividing axis, lever and link hopper operating means at one end of said hopper, a pair of rock shafts extending longitudinally of said hopper and supported in said frame, means for connecting said rock shafts to said operating means and at least at the opposite ends of said shell halves; whereby operating force is uniformly distributed to opposite ends of said hopper so that said hopper halves separate instantaneously along their mating edges to present said sample uniformly to and along said dividing axis of said sample dividing means therehelow.

5. A particle dividing apparatus comprising a V-shaped through having end plates and composed of a line of equal width bars, each pivoted at one of its ends along an axis at the lower vertex of the trough between said end plates, a pair of parallel stops along opposite sides of the upper edge of the trough against which the other ends of said bars rest, and means for clamping said bars together along said vertex after they have been adjusted to form alternate slots and sides on opposite sides of said trough.

6. An apparatus for sampling a batch of aggregate comprising: a frame, a pair of end plates supported hy said frame, at least one tie element connecting said end plates, a plurality of aggregate dellector elements arranged along the tie element in opposing inclined directions to form a V-shaped bin having spaced apart openings in the sides thereof, whereby one portion of said deflector elements will cause a portion of the aggregate to fall in one direction through the said openings in one side of the bin and another portion of the detlector elements will cause another portion of the aggregate to fall in another direction through said openings in the other side of the bin.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said frame comprises a hopper yhaving a bottom adapted to be opened and closed and adapted to contain a batch of aggregate therein, and means for evenly discharging an entire batch of aggregate through said bottom onto the full complement of said detlector elements.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said frame includes bin supporting members, and wherein said end plates include hanger elements adapted to engage said supporting members, whereby said bin including said end plates may be removably supported in said frame.

9. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said detlector elements comprise alternately and oppositely inclined strips arranged along said tie element in juxtaposed position to project upwardly at an angle therefrom to form said V-shaped bin, said bin having slots therein formed between adjacent edges of said alternately spaced apart strips, and said slots being opposed by equivalent width oppositely inclined strips.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each said strips comprises at least one bar of a plurality of bars pivoted along said tie element.

11. An apparatus according to claim`6 wherein said detiector elements comprise bars having a hole near one end thereof, whereby said bars may be pivoted on said tie element to selectively incline said bars in relation to each other.

12. An apparatus according to claim 6 including in addition to said tie element a pair of spaced apart upper tie elements connected to said end plates and arranged parallel to said tie element, each upper tie element being adapted to at least partially support the upper ends of at least a portion of said deector elements, thereby forming a bin separator unit.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said end plates are adapted to engage bolting means in said frame for removably supporting said separator unit in said frame.

14. An apparatus-according to claim 6 including a container adapted to receive a portion of aggregate falling from said V-shaped bin, and means on said frame for removably supporting said container below said bin.

15. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said container comprises a funnel and a bag, and a means tor removably attaching said bag to the spout of said funnel.

16. An apparatus according to claim 6 including a clam-shell type hopper above said bin mounted in said frame, an operating means for said hopper, and linkage means connecting said operating means to said hopper.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said operatlng means comprises resilient means adapted to normally maintain said hopper closed.

18. An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said clam-shell type hopper comprises a pair of juxtaposed front and rear side wall elements, a pair of end wall elements having pivot holes therein, pivots for attaching said end wall elements to said frame, and a seal plate extending along and in a plane parallel and adjacent to one of the said end wall elements to overlap an oppositely extending end wall element, whereby the opening occurring between the edges of said end wall elements may be kept closed when said end wall elements are moved apart about said pivots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 555,179 Nickerson Feb. 25, 1896 2,290,042 Granville July 14, 1942 2,379,921 Pizzirani et al. July 10, 1945 2,670,629 Beldon Mar. 2, 1954 

1. A DIVIDER FOR A BATCH OF PARTICLES COMPRISING: A VSHAPED TROUGH HAVING END PLATES AND BEING FREE FROM VERTICAL TRANSVERSE PARTITIONS BETWEEN SAID END PLATES, SAID TROUGH HAVING AN EQUAL NUMBER OF SLOTS ALTERNATELY ALONG ITS TWO OPPOSITE SIDES, MEANS FOR DISCHARGING A BATCH OF THE PARTICLES UNIFORMLY INTO SAID TROUGH DIRECTLY OVER THE VERTEX CENTER LINE THEREOF, AND MEANS FOR MAINTAING THE PARTICLES WHICH FALL THROUGH SAID SLOTS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TROUGH SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. 